(Andy Synn has a busy week, but had just enough time to write about Cross Bringer‘s new album)
It’s funny how things sometimes line up, isn’t it?
Case in point, just as last week I had no prior intention of writing about three killer Death Metal albums in a row – it just happened that way – this week I’ve ended up writing about not just one, but two Black Metal/Hardcore crossover outfits.
But although the Blackened Metalcore of Bleeding Through and the crustier, punkier sound of Cross Bringer certainly possess a few superficially similar features those similarities are rarely more than skin deep, with the former obviously opting for a more polished (these days, anyway) and cinematic sound while the latter keeps things that little bit rougher and gnarlier, and derives its darkness not from sinister symphonics but from layers of rough-textured distortion and ragged, raw-boned emotion.
Anyway, seeing as how this will probably be the last thing I write/publish this week (I’ve got a short run of shows with my own band I need to focus on) let’s not waste any more time and dive right in to see what Healismus Aeternus has to offer, shall we?
While the pre-release materials for Healismus Aeternus recommend the album “for fans of Wiegedood, Celeste, and Oathbreaker” I’d personally be inclined to tweak that to say that songs like emotionally and physically abrasive opener “Desolation Hypnosis” and savage, yet unexpectedly soulful, closer “Perpetual Servantship” remind me more of a mix of the metallic volatility of latter-day Rorcal at their most venomous and the melodic vulnerability of early Svalbard (especially in those moments where Cross Bringer, very occasionally, ease off on the gas and let themselves, and the listener, breathe a little).
That’s not to say that Cross Bringer are derivative or don’t have their own voice – and that voice, issuing from the blast-furnace throat of vocalist Lina, is vicious and visceral enough to strip paint at twenty paces – or that those comparisons are necessarily inaccurate (their occasional explorations of moodier, more atmospheric territory, such as the simmering second half of “Structural Imbalance”, definitely have a subtly Celeste-ian feel to them), it’s more about acknowledging just how much further the band have cranked up the intensity on their second album, proving that absence hasn’t so much made things fonder… just harsher.
At the same time, while the album is a little shorter than its predecessor (clocking in at just under twenty-seven-and-a-half minutes in total) the songs themselves err a little more towards the longer side (with only the unrelenting discord and devastation of “The Vessel” coming in under the five-minute mark) allowing the band to really emphasise the dynamic contrast between the most blisteringly “blackened” side of their sound and their more morose and melodic inclinations (with the anxiety-inducing aggression and darkly melodic digressions of “Metamorphosis” being a prime example of how Healismus Aeternus is capable of maintaining its almost relentless momentum while still allowing in a little more light and shade this time around).
And although it isn’t exactly adding a huge amount that’s new to the style, there’s no question that this album is the absolute epitome of “all killer, no filler”… and perhaps my only real complaint is that it all ends a little too soon and leaves you wanting more!